“Given these deliberate, coordinated and intensifying violent attacks on lives and property in Ferguson, I am directing the highly capable men and women of the Missouri National Guard … in restoring peace and order to this community,” Nixon said in a statement.

Gunfire, tear gas and Molotov cocktails Sunday night marked some of the fiercest clashes yet between police and protesters furious over the death of an unarmed teenager.

And the tensions continued escalating after autopsy results revealed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot six times.

Devolution of protests

What began as peaceful protests spiraled into disarray after two civilians were shot and injured, Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson said. He said those civilians were not shot by police.

“Tonight, a Sunday that started with prayers and messages of unity, peace and justice took a very different turn after dark,” Johnson said early Monday morning.

Some protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at police, and several businesses were vandalized or looted — despite the Brown family’s call for calm.

“Based on these conditions, I had no alternative but to elevate the level of our response,” Johnson said.

Officers fired tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of protesters, including children, who were marching toward a police command post despite an impending midnight curfew.

“That is a lie. It was no fight, it was no shots fired,” Williams told CNN late Sunday night. “All we did was march to the command center to fall to our knees and say, ‘Don’t shoot.’ And they started shooting.”

The clashes kept escalating, with the St. Charles County sheriff’s officials saying shots were fired in their direction.

At one point, employees at a McDonald’s restaurant locked themselves in a storage room after the store was overrun, Johnson said.

St. Louis County police said most of the crowds had dispersed after the curfew went into effect at midnight. The curfew will end at 5 a.m. (6 a.m. ET).

But the anxiety remains. The Ferguson-Florissant School District canceled classes for Monday.

“Information we received from officials on the scene late Sunday evening has contributed to concerns we have about children walking to school or waiting for buses on streets impacted by this activity,” the school district said on its Facebook page.

Autopsy details

Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead August 9 by a white police officer. He was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, according to the preliminary results of an autopsy that his family requested.

Family attorney Anthony Gray said the independent autopsy conducted Sunday found that Brown was shot twice in the head and four times in the right arm — all to the front of his body.

Last week, the St. Louis County police department said an original autopsy found that the teen died of gunshot wounds. But the department wouldn’t say how many times he was shot or any other details.

According to the preliminary results of the family autopsy, the bullets that struck Brown were not fired from close range, as indicated by the absence of gunpowder residue on his body.

One of the bullets shattered his right eye, traveled through his face, exited his jaw and re-entered his collarbone, according to the autopsy.

The last two shots were likely the ones to his head, attorney Gray said. One entered the top of his Brown’s skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when he was struck.

8 comments

iqdou

the people in Ferguson have got to calm down and let the investigators do their jobs. This tragedy should not be used as an excuse to steal from others and pillage the town. The town needs to follow the examples Michael Brown’s parents are setting – and I’m sure it’s extremely difficult for them to maintain their class and composure. I do have to say 6 shots sounds like an awful lot and I don’t know what to make of the fact they were not at close range…

How about this “news story” also reports that M Brown was shot six times in the front. Also that there are now two first hand accounts that he turned and ran at the officer who then opened fire. How about some actual news reporting instead of leaving the other half of the story out.

Those ghetto looters on Ferguson aren’t interested in justice. They are just criminals who are riding the race hustler’s bandwagon. They were going to rob and burn their own neighborhood anyway! Look at the pictures and video of the big, adult, gang signing, and store robbing bully Michael Brown. He deserved to get shot and his death was a bonus. Give the white officer a medal for getting hits in the midst of a fight where he was outnumbered 2 to 1.

It doesnt help that the news reports still state “black teenager” and “white police officer”. racially charged or not the media is steadily fueling the fire for ratings. for the sake of the people involved, and for the rest of us, why dont media outlets work towards helping end this madness instead of helping to escalate it?

iqdou

beverly hornick

Its a sad day for our country when a criminal can rob a store and be so brazen as to walk down the middle of the street and when ordered to use the sidewalk by a policeman, attack him and threaten his life and when police fight back criminal is lauded as innocent victem and policeman is demonized under the banner of racism. Even sadder that our president would get involved in local matter.

The media fails to mention the fact that the police are the aggressors here. It was a peaceful protest until they showed up and started pointing sniper rifles at unarmed peaceful protesters. I don’t know about you, but if some bully cop was pointing guns at me when all I did was exercise my first amendment right In a peaceful way I would be pretty pissed off. I would probably react to that with anger just like these people did. Especially when it’s the police that I was there protesting in the first place. The media keeps slanting the story, the police are the problem here, they are not keeping the peace, they are destroying it. They are the aggressors, the people are simply reacting to the actions of the police. We have turned into a police state. And these people refuse to accept that. People of ferguson, burn it to the ground if you have too. Don’t let those Nazis win.